Telling the truth in class

Veteran Kansas teacher Pamela Ricard is not on board with her middle school’s new gender policy. The policy requires teachers to call students by the name and pronouns they request, even if those terms do not match a student’s biological sex. Ricard says that violates her core Christian convictions.

The teacher challenged her school’s pronoun policy and a three-day suspension she was issued for violating it in a lawsuit filed in federal court Mar. 7. In a 49-page complaint, Ricard argues the Fort Riley Middle School policy requiring her to use pronouns that do not match students’ biological sex requires her to lie to students, a violation of Biblical commandments. She alleges that the school administrators’ failure to accommodate her religious beliefs violates her constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

“I continue to enjoy teaching my students day in and day out, but the stigma of being officially labeled a ‘bully’ simply for using a student’s enrolled last name has been disheartening,” Ricard told CNN. “I love all my students, but I shouldn’t be forced to contradict my core beliefs in order to teach math in a public school.”

Ricard’s conflict with administrators stemmed from an April 2021 incident where she addressed a female student by the student’s legal and enrolled last name, preceded by “Miss,” although the student identified as a “he” and had selected a new first name. At the time, the school had no policy on the use of preferred pronouns, and the student did not ask Ricard to use preferred pronouns. That came from another student, who in a note advised Ricard that “All youre [sic] doing right now is showing that youre [sic] transphobic & don’t care that youre [sic] being visibly transphobic.”

Administrators suspended Ricard for three days under general policies on bullying by staff, diversity and inclusion, and staff-student relations, the lawsuit stated. By the time she had a hearing to appeal the disciplinary action against her, the school had issued guidance telling teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns. 

Ricard requested a religious accommodation to the rule. In her appeal, she pointed to the challenges imposed by a policy beholden to students’ subjective feelings about gender.

“Mrs. Ricard is aware of situations in her school during the 2020-2021 school year wherein a student changed his name several times without any formal enrollment update,” argued Ricard’s attorney at an August 2021 school board hearing. The attorney added that “the limitless number of preferred gendered pronouns and salutations being incorporated into everyday parlance creates a potentially uncontrolled school environment.” The complaint points to sources that identify as many as 112 options for gender identity, including newly invented pronouns like “ze,” “zie,” “sie,” “hir,” and “hirs,” some of which change based on mood or other circumstances.

Ricard’s predicament parallels that of Virginia high school teacher Peter Vlaming, who also declined to address students by pronouns not matching their biological sex. Vlaming was fired in December 2018 for failing to follow school policy. The French teacher sought an accommodation that would allow him to address students only by their chosen first name, yet school officials insisted on the use of preferred pronouns. On Mar. 3, the Virginia Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.

A similar lawsuit by three Loudoun County, Va., teachers also remains pending after their school district instituted a similar preferred pronoun policy despite significant local opposition.

Ricard’s attorney, Josh Neys, said his client simply wants her name cleared from disciplinary charges and to be able to continue to teach. “Throughout her career, Ms. Ricard has consistently treated every student in her classroom with respect and dignity,” Neys told the Associated Press. “Unfortunately, the school district has not treated Ms. Ricard with similar good faith or basic fairness.”